


endings of all things old and lost, and revelations of beginnings of something beautiful

by EthelPhantom



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien thinks about serious stuff, Aged-Up Character(s), F/M, Fluff, Identity Reveal, Kinda angsty but not really at all, Plagg Cares, Seriously I swear it's not as angsty as the summary suggests, Short & Sweet, Somehow Adrien manages to fall in love with the same person twice, These Idiots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-27 22:13:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20415145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EthelPhantom/pseuds/EthelPhantom
Summary: “It’s just that, you know, hope seems to be the last thing to die and it kills you slowly. Uncertainty keeps you going, sure, but at what cost? I don’t want to spend my life crying about what could have been. That’s why it’s better if I let go of that hope now and started anew.”“That’s… that’s both the most pessimistic and positive thing I’ve ever heard you say since I met you, kid.”





	endings of all things old and lost, and revelations of beginnings of something beautiful

**Author's Note:**

> Hey look I couldn't stay away after all. I'm here again even though I posted my previous (and first) Miraculous fanfic _less than 24 hours ago_. Oh well. What can you do? I'm still overwhelmed by the amount of positive feedback on the last fic, though, so honestly, thank you so much. It all made my day(s).
> 
> (Please don't expect me to keep up this pace, I'm just too frustrated with these kids, I've read far too many Miraculous fanfics in the past month, and my need to also write for them is way too high right now.)
> 
> I wrote this mostly because I think Chat's (and Adrien's by extension) love for Ladybug is mostly him putting her on a pedestal and thinking she's pretty much perfect while she's not. I do think it's real, at least in a way, but still. Kids tend to create an image of people and love that image, rather than the person themselves, especially if they fall in love with someone who puts on a mask to look "better" -- as I think both Ladybug and Adrien do. So, this happened. 
> 
> Also, this is me procrastinating on writing for my favourite fandom, Code Geass (if anyone's checked what I've written and posted in Ao3 until now, you might guess it's my favourite by the sheer amount of CG you can find), so well. 
> 
> Yeah, you know what, I'll just let you read the actual thing if you're even reading this anymore. I hope you enjoy!

The horrible smell of camembert Plagg never stopped eating no longer bothered Adrien all that much, but it really wasn’t surprising considering he’d had to bear it for years already. Even other people had already given up questioning why he always smelled like the cheese. 

Adrien was watching the dark night sky from his window, not sure if he was looking for something from the dead of night. 

“Kid, why do you look like you’re desperately trying to find something?”, Plagg asked, floating to him as he was eating camembert. Again. Seriously, unless Adrien found a well paying job when he quit being a model, he would find himself out on the streets if Plagg kept on with his eating habits. 

“I don’t know. I’m just thinking of what happened today.”

Indeed, today had been weird. Marinette had stopped with her stuttering (although Adrien had no idea what happened as it was so sudden, an overnight change in her demeanour. Her stuttering had first gotten so much worse and then suddenly… well, today happened) and today they had managed to hold an actual conversation, too. It was honestly really fun, talking to her. He had known she was sassy and outgoing under everything she showed him as he had visited her as Chat more than once, but today was the first time she’d done it with _ Adrien _. 

Yeah, Marinette was amazing. She was kind and strong, she always had time for others, she tried to keep up with schoolwork even if she missed school (quite a lot, too, if he believed Nino and Alya’s words). It was cute how she stuck out her tongue when she was really focused on something, whether it be a math problem or a particularly difficult idea of a design she had on her mind. 

“Look, if you’re thinking about Marinette — isn’t that the girl you have a crush on? —, you should probably ask the girl out,” Plagg said and dove for the cheese in Adrien’s outstretched hand. “That is, unless you’re still hung up on Ladybug, because then it wouldn’t work. It wouldn’t be fair to either of you”, he continued as he nodded his head at the red blur that went past his window. It stopped on a rooftop, stretched, and then sat down watching the peaceful, sleeping Paris. Adrien could now clearly make out the black dots on the red blur, and as he had guessed, it was his lady. 

“I haven’t got a crush— actually, scratch that, I don’t even know anymore. I have wished and hoped for Ladybug to notice me for ages by now, and I don’t think anything’s going to happen anymore”, he said and smiled, although happiness was long gone from his face. 

“Wow, would you look at that, little mister sunshine is losing his hope.”

Adrien bit his lip and let his gaze wonder to the side, scratching his head with his right hand. He turned his back towards the window and leaned against it, crossing his arms on his chest.

“I don’t think I’m necessarily _ losing _ hope, Plagg. I think I’ve just grown up. I can see things from another point of view now, and it’s cleared up some things. She’s not willing to open up to me about her civilian life, and I understand why, I really do. It’s just... a relationship where one side needs to hide so much about themselves, it wouldn’t work. So, I’m giving up. And it’s fine with me. I know what I’ve hoped for so long, but if she isn’t willing to just be herself with me, it isn’t my place to complain. She was never mine to begin with — and who knows, she could already have a significant other.”

It was true. The closest thing that could lead him to find out her identity that she had ever told him was that she loved designing — that, and then there was the fact she had two weeks ago told him she would tell him who she was if he managed to find her outside their masks, accidentally, and she thought it’d be finally alright for him to know. 

It very much implied that she knew who he was, but it was alright. She didn’t want to tell him her identity, and Adrien would never disrespect his lady’s wishes. She was still his best friend, and he dearly cared about her and would always be there for her, just as she would always have his back, but he needed to let go of his romantic feelings for her. He was happy enough with her being his best friend, and he decided that was enough. After all, he had always just wanted someone with whom he wouldn’t need to hide himself, and even if she wanted them not to talk about their civilian lives, he could still be himself — and she never judged him for it, even if she was a little exasperated because of his endless puns.

“It’s just that, you know, hope seems to be the last thing to die and it kills you slowly. Uncertainty keeps you going, sure, but at what cost? I don’t want to spend my life crying about what could have been. That’s why it’s better if I let go of that hope now and started anew.”

“That’s… that’s both the most pessimistic and positive thing I’ve ever heard you say since I met you, kid.”

Adrien huffed, amused at his little kwami. “I suppose. Besides, I think that if I had never found myself infatuated with Ladybug, I would have fallen in love with Marinette. So, I think I’ll give that a new chance. I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving Ladybug, but I think, I think that love has become platonic.”

And so, weeks passed by, and as Adrien had guessed, he found himself growing more and more attached to Marinette. The two of them became best friends, always bantering about anything and everything. They met outside of their studies and work constantly, and if what Marinette and Nino told him was anything to go by, he was even closer to her than Alya was. Admittedly, the girls had had a falling out when they were younger, during the time Lila was in the same class, but still.

And frankly speaking, Adrien reveled in it all. He loved being with Marinette, and he was slowly opening up to her, as was she to him. She felt like home. He even felt comfortable enough in her presence that he started punning at any given op_ purr _tunity, much to Marinette’s — a little amused, albeit he knew she would never admit it to him — irritation, because he knew she wouldn’t judge him (much). 

Eventually, he realised he was in love with the girl. 

Maybe that’s why he could simply stare at Marinette, shocked, when she confessed to him. 

“I— Adrien, I love you!”, she declared on one day when they were walking in the park. He wasn’t sure how to react, but the way she bit her lip and looked away when he didn’t reply to her, eyes wet, made his heart clench in pain. Oh god, he never meant to hurt Marinette, he was just too shocked to be able to speak. 

“It’s alright if you don’t feel the same way about me, I understand well. I just wanted to tell you so you’d be aware of my feelings. I mean, I don’t think my love for you is going to fade and go anywhere. I still want to be friends with you though, if that’s alright, but I can also leave you alone if you—”

“No!” 

He had to cut her off at that point. The thought that she thought of herself so little hurt him, and that’s why he’d rushed to say he didn’t want her to go. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing her because of himself.

“No?”

“No. I mean, never leave me, please. I love you too”, he said, placing his hands on her shoulders and squeezing gently. Maybe it was to make sure she couldn’t escape, or maybe because he really needed the reassurance that she really was there, and he hadn’t only made all of this up. That it wasn’t merely a dream. 

Marinette smiled, and oh, it was that beautiful smile which always lightened up the entire room and brightened his days, that smile which reached her eyes and the skin around her eyes would wrinkle because of how real it was. The smile which never let Adrien go without smiling as well.

It was the smile he Adrien loved seeing on her face the most. 

Adrien pulled her into his embrace and buried his face in her hair. She smelled like strawberries and chocolate (her hair products, likely, were the cause of that), but she also smelled like cinnamon buns and freshly baked bread. It was a comforting, familiar (overly familiar, but Adrien decided not to read too much into it) smell. It made him feel like he was home. 

_ Marinette _made him feel like he was home.

She always did. 

The Agreste mansion wasn’t home, Marinette was. He loved coming back to her, he loved spending time with her, and now, now she said she loved him. She would be his, and his only, and he would be hers if she would just have him, and it made Adrien giddy, and oh so full of happiness. He felt like he was about to burst.

“I love you so much”, he murmured into her hair and smiled as she laughed, her chest rumbling lightly against him. “Will you be my girlfriend?”

“I’d love to, Adrien”, she replied, and even though he had expected that reply, his breath was still caught in his throat. He loved hearing Marinette say his name, because it reminded him he was safe with her. 

Adrien cupped her face in his hands and leaned closer to her slowly. Slowly, to make sure Marinette could push him away if she wanted to. He didn’t think he could manage asking for her permission — and not because he thought she would say no and then he’d be sad, but because he thought he wouldn’t be able to get the words out of his mouth in the first place. 

But Marinette never pushed him away, and so Adrien pressed his lips against hers. Her eyes fluttered shut. Time seemed to just… stop. Her lips were soft and warm, and they tasted like mint and strawberries. Or maybe the mint was his own lip balm, he wasn’t sure. He didn’t care. 

The kissing itself didn’t go very well though as both of them were smiling far too much to be able to actually kiss, but it was alright. They let their foreheads press against each other and smiled. Adrien could easily feel Marinette’s soft huffs of breath against his lips, and he knew he was fucked. He was never going to let go of Marinette, or at least it was so if he had any say in the matter. He was so going to shower her with love and appreciation, God knew she deserved it. She’d gone too much already, and Adrien honestly thought people didn’t show her the love due. So, if no one else was going to do it, he would, and he would never stop.

Marinette gave a quick kiss on his lips and chuckled. “You finally found me”, she whispered against his lips. Her words puzzled him until she continued. 

_ “You found me, Chaton.” _

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you enjoyed!
> 
> (It's so weird writing straight relationships. I'm honestly too used to writing m/m fanfics (as one may notice), and my original works are either a lesbian love story or a tragedy of two ace aro siblings, so... These children are just too cute (and stupid) and I need to get my love for them out of my system.) 
> 
> I hope I'll get to hear your thoughts and feedback on this, so please don't be afraid to comment! After all, your comments (and kudos) are basically my lifeline as an author.
> 
> By the way, I'll happily take prompts and ideas for future fics for this fandom, because I mean, I have a list full of actual ideas for CG, but next to no ideas for Miraculous. I still want to write for ML because I need to write happy stuff and it's so much easier writing it for them. 
> 
> Come scream about these stupid kids to/with me at my [tumblr](https://ethelphantom.tumblr.com/)!


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